Shin Bet: election probe not from political source

The Shin Bet issued a rare public clarification Thursday evening following reports of an investigation into suspected foreign funding and election bribery.

"Apart from Justice Sohlberg, no entity outside the service was exposed to this intelligence until after the election," the statement said. The Shin Bet stressed that the investigation is not yet complete and that "any statement regarding the content or nature of the suspicions does not represent the Shin Bet's position and should have been avoided."

The statement comes amid a political storm over suspicions of an attempt to influence the results of the Knesset 26 election. The Shin Bet held the intelligence for weeks and waited for the alleged offences to be carried out in order to build a solid evidentiary foundation, according to earlier reports.

The Shin Bet said that once the investigation is complete, the findings will be presented to the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Solberg, who is the authority empowered to make decisions on the matter. "The Shin Bet is a state institution and all its actions are carried out solely under its statutory mandate and are conducted by the organisation's professional and legal-advisory personnel," the statement said.

The statement emphasised that "just as the Shin Bet operates in all areas on a targeted basis only with those directly involved, this type of investigation is also focused and limited, and there is no basis for casting aspersions on or accusing an entire sector that went out to vote in a democratic and lawful manner. Only those who acted contrary to law will be dealt with."

The Shin Bet pledged that at the conclusion of the investigation, all information will be presented in full, transparently and without interpretation to the decision-makers on the Elections Committee. With the approval and at the request of the committee chairman, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Yesh party leader Gadi Eisenkot and opposition leader Yair Lapid were briefed in the past day personally by the Shin Bet chief on the main suspicions under investigation.

The suspicions under investigation centre on the illegal transfer of funds from Arab states identified with the Muslim Brotherhood stream, such as Qatar and Turkey, with the aim of incentivising and raising turnout in the Arab sector. The suspicion is that the funds were transferred to parties under the guise of legitimate donations.

According to reports, updated results show Ra'am rising to eight seats, while the Joint List dropped to eleven seats. The current coalition reaches only 53 seats, against 48 for the change bloc.

President Yitzchak Herzog addressed the investigation, saying: "The evidence and suspicions must be investigated to the end, and offenders must be investigated and punished to the full severity of the law." At the same time, the president warned against sweeping generalisations: "Even at such a moment, one must refrain from tarring an entire public that sought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy."